Halo 4 hitting Xbox 360 on November 6—without Bungie

The next game in Microsoft's best-selling Halo franchise will hit on November …

Microsoft and developer 343 Industries have announced that the next title in the Halo series will launch on the Xbox 360 on November 6.

The worldwide launch date, the same day as the US presidential election, places the game after planned September and October releases for anticipated holiday titles like Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite, Assassin's Creed 3, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter, but still well ahead of the post-Thanksgiving sales period.

The new game, which Microsoft has called the beginning of a "new trilogy" for the franchise, is set four years after the events of Halo 3, which seems appropriate for a game coming out almost exactly four years after the last numbered Halo game.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.